Does your business need notary insurance?
As a notary, you have an important job and have to execute your duties carefully. Make even a small mistake, and a client might sue you. Then, of course, there are other, more general risks—the kind that every business faces, like the risk of a visitor being injured at your place of business.
The good news is that there are business insurance policies that address those risks. General liability insurance, business owners policies (BOPs), workers’ compensation insurance, errors and omissions insurance, commercial auto insurance, cyber insurance, and umbrella insurance are what we refer to collectively as notary insurance or notary public insurance. Insurance for a notary public is crucial, because it protects you from the financial consequences of incidents that affect notaries around the country every day.
You have to be sure to have all of the policies that apply to your business since the cost of one incident can be devastating to a notary. Sadly, lots of small businesses have to close their doors every year due to large financial burdens from lawsuits and other expenses they weren’t prepared for. By having professional notary insurance, you can avoid that scenario.
This article provides information and insights on notary insurance, including what it is, what it costs, and what kind of real-world incidents it covers. Let’s dive in!
Who needs notary insurance?
For notaries, insurance is essential. Officially verifying the identities of people who sign important documents comes with significant risk. You also need notary insurance if you serve as an official, impartial witness. Not sure if what you do meets either of these criteria? Contact us and we can talk with you more about your duties and whether you need notary bonding insurance and the notary insurance cost you can expect.
Small business insurance for a notary public: 7 vital policies
At biBerk, we offer these seven types of insurance for a notary public:
- Errors and Omissions insurance. Also referred to as errors and omissions insurance for notaries or notary E&O insurance, this coverage is different from notary bond insurance (also called notary bonding insurance). Notary bond insurance protects the public, while E&O insurance protects you. How much is errors and omissions insurance for notaries? It’s very affordable, and E&O insurance can cover the cost of damages and legal fees if someone says you made a mistake or failed to perform a service and they suffered financial harm. For example, if you use the wrong date when notarizing a document needed for a business transaction and consequently the transaction is delayed, you can be sued for resulting financial damages. Notary insurance can protect you from this type of claim.
- General Liability insurance. Also called commercial liability, this insurance covers damages and legal costs associated with injury claims from clients and other visitors, medical expenses associated with these incidents, and damage to the property of others your business causes. Slip-and-fall injuries are a common example here—like when a delivery person slips on melted snow in the entryway of your office and breaks their arm. General liability insurance also covers slander, libel, and copyright infringement.
- Business Owners Policy (BOP). Some people call this a property & liability policy. A BOP combines general liability insurance with company property coverage. It can protect the building you own or space you lease, and other property you own, lease, or have in what’s called your care, custody, or control. It also covers business interruption and lost income that results from property damage, as well as costs related to resuming business operations after suffering property damage, like using a temporary location. So, if a fire damages the office you operate out of and you have to rent other space while repairs are made, that cost can be covered.
- Workers’ Compensation insurance. This coverage is typically required by law for any notary public business that has employees. It provides benefits if your employees get hurt, sick, or die as a result of an incident on the job. It can help pay for medical costs, legal fees, and lost wages. It can also provide what’s called a death benefit to the employee’s family.
- Commercial Auto insurance. This type of policy is for vehicles your notary business owns or leases. It covers liability resulting from accidents caused by people driving those vehicles. It can provide payment for an incident even if the vehicle is used for personal activities outside of its primary business use.
- Cyber insurance. You can purchase this type of insurance as an add-on to a BOP, general liability, or E&O policy. It helps cover costs related to incidents where a hacker steals sensitive information and uses it to commit fraud or is likely to. As a notary, you probably have access to sensitive information, so you should consider cyber insurance.
- Umbrella insurance. As you’d expect, all insurance policies have a maximum they’ll pay. This type of insurance, sometimes called commercial umbrella insurance, can cover costs that exceed the limit of another biBerk liability policy, up to its own limit. It keeps you from having to pay the amount that your liability policy won’t cover.
How much notary E&O insurance does a notary need?
How much notary E&O insurance you need to protect your business depends on multiple factors. Our licensed insurance experts can talk with you to learn more about your risk profile. Then they can recommend coverage limits not only for your notary E&O insurance but for any policy you purchase from biBERK.
Who relies on biBerk for notary insurance?
At biBerk, we support notaries of all kinds. A solo notary public might come to us looking for affordable protection from the legal risks that are common in their industry. They appreciate that having the right insurance coverage helps protect their assets in the event of legal action and gives them professional credibility. Being fully insured provides tremendous peace of mind.
Some small businesses offer notary services. Owners of these companies look to us for policies covering their various risks. They also seek input on issues like regulatory compliance and risk mitigation based on our deep insurance expertise. In addition, they benefit from having a solid insurance strategy and a partnership with an industry leader because it creates trust and supports higher client retention.
Larger companies with in-house notaries can benefit from the protection of our policies, including the fact that we make it easy and affordable to cover several of them. Corporations are all about risk management, and we help them implement the financial protection they need.
Be sure your notary E&O insurance covers all notary acts.
Notary E&O insurance from certain providers only covers some of the actions you take as a notary. Notary E&O insurance from biBerk covers all notary acts that you listed in your application with us. There are no hidden exclusions. That’s important, since a coverage gap can be costly if someone sues you.
Insurance for a notary public: common claims
Notary insurance can protect you if you make a mistake like failing to properly screen the signers of an important document and get sued. Your notary E&O insurance can cover damages and also court costs.
If you have an office and, like in the example above, someone gets hurt while visiting you, a general liability policy or a BOP can cover the person’s medical expenses and any legal costs if you're found liable.
And an umbrella policy can kick in if the limit of an underlying biBerk liability policy that covers a particular incident is exceeded—up to the umbrella policy’s limit. For example, if your limit on a particular liability policy is $150,000 and a court judgment against you plus legal fees totals $200,000, your umbrella can pay the $50,000 above the limit of the other policy.
Solid small business insurance coverage for a notary public is important.
The real-world claim examples above are just a few of the kinds of incidents that can impact a notary public. But don’t worry: Notary insurance can protect you so that you can focus on serving your clients. And when you buy notary insurance from biBerk, you’ve got our deep resources and insurance expertise behind you, which can make getting past an incident much easier and less stressful.
What does notary insurance cost?
Notary insurance policies are very affordable, especially when you buy from biBerk. We can offer coverage at up to 20% less than many other providers thanks to our direct-to-you sales approach.
Your cost will depend on factors like the size of your business, your claims history, and others. But you can get fast, free, self-service notary insurance quotes for the policies you need online whenever it’s convenient for you.
You can also buy policies, manage them, and report claims on the biBerk website. And, of course, if you have questions, our licensed insurance experts are always happy to assist you.